Oxford Landlord is Fined £7,298 for Housing Offences
A Landlord has been to court by Oxford City Council and fined a total of £7,298 for operating and unlicensed House in Multipkle Occupation (HMO) that was home to 3 people with disabilities.
Haringey landlord fined over £23,000 for breaching HMO regulations
A London landlord has been fined for breaching fire safety regulations at a property in Haringey.
Mehmet Parlak, who owns Watchacre Properties Limited was fined at Highgate Magistrates Court last month.
The property on Markfield Road has not been licensed as a house of multiple occupation ( HMO) despite having multiple tenants.
An inspection at the property was carried out in August this year by an environmental health officer from the local authority. The investigator identified around 78 safety issues.
Cllr Nilgun Canver, Cabinet Member for the Environment, said: “Haringey Council is determined to clamp down on landlords who put profit above their tenants’ safety. Mr Parlak is associated with many properties which are used as HMOs and has been involved with this business for many years. There was no excuse for not licensing or for allowing properties to degenerate into such squalid conditions. The regulations exist to make sure that tenants who are not in a position to pick and choose where they live are protected from rogue landlords like this. A small fire in a property managed like this could lead to the utmost tragedy. I applaud the courts for taking this matter so seriously.”
Mr Parlak pleaded guilty to the charges against him and was fined £23,000 and ordered to pay costs of £2,890.
Warwickshire Council fined £30,000 over firefighter deaths
Warwickshire council has been fined £30,000 over the deaths of four firefighters who lost their lives in a fire at a vegetable packing plant in Warwickshire.
John Averis, 27, Ashley Stephens, 20 and Darren Yates-Badley, 24 died in the building in Atherstone-on-Stour in November 2007. A fourth firefighter, Ian Reid, 44, died later in hospital.
Mr Justice Macduff described the deaths as a “dreadful accident”. Warwickshire County Council pleaded guilty to health and safety charges earlier this year.
Mr Macduff said the fine imposed “in no way” summed up the cost of the four men’s lives but highlighted deficiencies in record-keeping and information given to fire crews at the time of the blaze.
Speaking after the sentencing, Warwickshire’s community safety spokesman, councilor Richard Hobbs, apologised for the fire authority’s failings. He said: “We pleaded guilty to the charge because we recognised and accepted that there were failings on our part back in 2007. No fire service can guarantee that nothing will ever go wrong again but we are confident that our service is as safe as it can be.”
Earlier this year, 3 fire service managers were cleared of manslaughter charges in relation to the deaths.
Ian Reid’s widow, Julie said: “No matter what amount of fine is imposed, it will not bring Ian back or turn the clock back so that I can stop him attending the fire on that fateful night. The judge said at a previous hearing that if he imposed a large fine, the only losers would be the taxpayers. I would like to remind him that the losers in this tragic event are the four men who lost their lives and their still deeply grieving families.”
No fire safety certificate at Bangladeshi factory when 110 people died in fire
It has been reported that a Bangladeshi clothes factory did not have a valid fire safety certificate when a fire broke out killing over 110 people.
Abu Naim Mohammad Shahidullah, from the Fire Service and Civil Defence department confirmed that the factory’s certificate had expired in June and had not been renewed.
Mr Shahidullah said “The fire safety certificate was given [to the factory] last year. But he [the owner] is supposed to get it renewed this year any time after June 2012. We gave him a reminder that he should contact us for renewal. It was not done. If they had come [to us] earlier then the factory would have checked by our inspectors.”
The factory was making clothes for Western retailers such as Walmart, C&A and The Edinburgh Woollen Mill at the time of the blaze. Walmart later said that it was terminating the services of the factory.
More than 1000 workers were at the factory when the fire started on 24th November on the ground floor of the building on the outskirts of Dhaka.
A government inquiry into the fire will now be carried out.
Crowborough pub closed for second time due to fire risk
The Crowborough Cross pub in Crowborough has been closed for the second time in just 3 months after it was condemned by fire chiefs.
Crowborough fire station commander said: “Following a joint inspection with Sussex Police and Wealden District Council licensing, East Sussex Fire and Rescue Service identified several fire safety contraventions at the premises and issued a formal notice restricting the use of the premises. Further enforcement action was to follow, but the owners of the pub have made the decision to close.”
It is not known whether the pub owners will sell the business or refurbish the property in order to meet the required safety requirements.
Emma Welch, who runs the pub said she is keen to transform the pub. Ms Welch said: “I’m awaiting movement from Punch Taverns over what they intend to do with the pub. I’m currently the tenant but Punch will decide before Christmas whether they will keep the site and invest heavily in it, or whether they will sell it on the open market. I would rather buy the freehold, although if this is made available there is likely to be competition from big companies like Wetherspoons to get the site. I really believe in this site. The Cross is the beacon of Crowborough.”
A spokesperson for the Punch Taverns said: “We are working with all parties involved to address any highlighted issues. It is our priority to keep our pubs open and trading and we will look to reopen as soon as possible.”
The Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order 2005 states that you:
‘must make a suitable and sufficient assessment of the risks to which relevant persons are exposed’
This means that all companies as a first point in their Fire Safety must complete a Fire Risk Assessment. This must be carried out by a competent person, who is trained to perform risk assessments. Your Fire Training needs, your fire extinguisher needs and any other fire safety related issues you will need to address will be highlighted from the Fire Risk Assessment.
Our team of experienced and qualified Fire Risk Assessors will perform a full Fire Risk Assessment of your premises, and provide you with a comprehensive document detailing the risks found and recommendations to minimise the risks.
Our Fire Risk Assessment is divided into nine separate areas:
- Fire safety administration
- Fire fighting facilities
- Identifying fire hazards
- Fire routine and test procedure
- Means of escape
- Review procedures
- Staff/people at risk
- Arson prevention check list
- Fire warning facilities
When you have a Fire Risk Assessment, you must review this to ensure that everything is still in order. For example, you have a reshuffle of departments and your trained Fire Wardens are all moved onto the same floor of the building so more are required to cover the other floors, or you may have an extension built on your building. You may not even have had any changes in personnel or building, but it is essential that you review the Fire Risk Assessment anyway! We provide a service to review your Fire Risk Assessments for you, whether completed by ourselves or not.